Sri Lanka pursue victory, show Australia the exit door

Sri Lanka showed no signs of any trauma in their psyche as they comprehensively beat Australia by six wickets and send them out early from the ICC World Twenty20 at Trent Bridge in Nottingham on Monday. There were no overt signs of the distress that Sri Lankans were under in the wake of a terrorist attack on the team in Lahore a few weeks ago.

As a unit, they were single-minded in their pursuit of a win against a team walloped earlier by Chris Gayle and the West Indies in their opening game. And yet, they found individual heroes like Ajantha Mendis, Lasith Malinga, Tillekeratne Dilshan and skipper Kumar Sangakkara as they stopped Australia at 159 for nine in 20 overs.and then chased it down with an over to spare

Australia are unlikely to forget their first meeting with mystery spinner Mendis in a hurry. The Sri Lankan claimed three wickets for 20 runs in his four overs to mastermind Australia’s slide from a heady 48 for one in 5.5 overs. He foxed Ricky Ponting in his first over and Shane Watson in his second to force Australia to get into a damage control mode.

Mike Hussey became Mendis’ third victim when he came back for his third over and Australia’s cup of woes overflowed until Mitchell Johnson and Brett Lee led a 65-run spree in the last five overs. But then, 159 for nine was way below par and Australia were left to work hard to overcome the impact of 10 overs of spin bowling by the Sri Lankans.

Australia needed quick wickets when they started the defence of the 160-run target and Lee prised out Sanath Jayasuriya early enough but Tillekeratne Dilshan and skipper Kumar Sangakkara – coming off very good time in the DLF Indian Premier League in South Africa – added 62 runs for the second wicket and frustrated Australia.

Dilshan was at his attacking best in scoring 53 off 32 balls (10 fours) while Sangakkara played the steady hand till the end and made 55 off 42 balls, striking four fours and two sixes at a time when pressure was building up. Sangakkara’s maturity – and Jehan Mubarak’s good finishing skills – saw the side home when Mitchell Johnson slipped a wide down the leg-side.

Australia now have more time to prepare for the Ashes than they would have envisaged while Sri Lanka now face the West Indies to decide the top spot in the group. The Sri Lankans have caught the fancy of many as potential semifinalists along with India and South Africa but coming together on a tour after the Lahore attack, Sangakkara and his men have their feet grounded.